On to the second of our Cure tasks this week: cleaning, decluttering, and re-organizing the pantry. I gave myself plenty of time for this one, knowing it would take a while to sort through all those twisted-up baggies and half-used containers. Admittedly, the photo above is an “after” shot, but read on for the behind the scenes story of how I got there.
My Pantry Situation
I have a fairly narrow galley kitchen with a narrow closet serving as my pantry. There are five separate shelves, and each is vaguely assigned a different cooking category: snacks, dinner staples, baking, and...um...random stuff. Lately, things have fallen into disorder and I’ve been struggling to find space when I come back from the grocery store (see Photo Evidence #, a.k.a. Shelf of Doom). I’ve even resorted to clearing another cupboard in the kitchen for the over-flow, which has become equally disorganized (see Photo Evidence #3).
The Plan of Attack
As with my cleaning of the fridge, I decided to remove everything from the cupboards, wipe the shelves down, and re-organize from scratch. I also dug out some shallow plastic containers that were floating around and decided to put them to use as organizing trays.
I’m a chronic hoarder and am reluctant to throw anything out if it still might be potentially useful one day. I have a particularly hard time with dried goods because they keep for so long, often well past the expiration date printed on the package.
So I was extra firm with myself here. I threw away anything and everything that was past its expiration date, even if it still seemed ok. Besides being really not fresh anymore, the fact that these things had been sitting in my pantry for so long is an indication that I’m probably not that interested in using them.
I wish I could tell you this was cathartic, but really it just filled me with remorse for all those meals-that-could-have-been. I threw away a half-used box of whole wheat cous cous that expired two years ago, but of course still smelled fine. I got rid of another package containing a handful of beyond-desiccated dried cranberries that could theoretically be reconstituted, if grudgingly so. A hardened container of malt powder. Baking soda left by a roommate five years ago. In the end, I consigned a grocery bag of ingredients to the trash and took the bag out to the curb before I could second-guess myself.
The End Result
On the highest top shelf, I put my back-up supplies of things like flour, oatmeal, and the like. On the next shelf, I used half for my bins of flour and sugar, and reserved the other half for our snack stash. Below that are all the canned and jar goods I regularly use for dinners. I actually had room to put a pretty bowl for onions on one side!
Next up is the baking shelf. On the right, I put things like honey, molasses, and dried fruit (the packages that survived the purge). On the left, I have a box for all those bags of different sugars, packages of chocolate, and other random baking supplies.
And on the bottom shelf, once my Shelf of Doom (see again Photo Evidence #2), I have all my oils, vinegars, and sauces in a plastic container. Theoretically, this will make them easy to pull out, keep organized, and keep clean. On the other side, I put the random ingredients that didn’t fit anywhere else and that I should use up soon. I put them in plain sight so I (hopefully) won’t forget about them (again).
Oh, and that overflow cupboard? I turned that into a dry-goods storage. I put all my pastas, dried beans, and grains up there. Very tidy.
The Take-Away
The truly surprising thing about this whole pantry purge and reorganization was how much room I had when it was done. I think this is partly due to getting rid of a lot of the containers that didn’t hold very much but took up lots of room. I also think I just have more room than I think, especially when everything is actually organized efficiently.
The plastic bins were a great idea. I really think they will help keep each section contained and organized. Since my shelves are fairly deep, it also helps that I can now slide the whole tray out to get at something in the back.
I’d like to buy something to hang over the back of my pantry door. As I was going in and out, I realized that I have a pretty big space between the door and the edge of the shelves, and I think I could fit some hanging baskets for things like onions and garlic in there.
How did your pantry cleaning go? Any great tips to share?
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I just cleaned my pantry with a move and it is cathartic to get rid of all the things never used and now be able to actually see what I have rather than keep buying more.
I literally had 8 cans of black beans because I kept buying and did not see them in the back of the cabinet. I ate them for a week, then ended up tossing the cans that had expired in 2008. The husband made me too paranoid about eating them when I'm sure they didn't really go bad.
One thing though, I would freeze all those dry goods overnight to ensure that you don't get an infestation of flour/grain bugs - the cold will ensure those products last longer, you have a lot of flour.
i did my pantry yesterday and didn't say anything to my hubby. he exclaimed when he opened the door!
last night and tonight we'll have meals from the pantry and it feels good to have thrown an entire trash bag of stuff away!
today the kids hyjacked my time, so tomorrow i'll tackle the refrigerator, but i've been thrown away stuff as i see it - two trips out to the compost bin. sad to see how much i have wasted, but a good wake up call to be aware of what i am holding on to in the refrigerator.
I didn't know baking soda expired... I had some from 2006. And some cake mixes and pudding mixes from the same time period. Yikes! I guess I don't need to buy any more of those!
I eat from my 'pantry' all summer and replenish in the fall/winter when I am more likely not to want to go out and shop. I supplement with seasonal fruits and veggies. I also eat from the freezer too. It is a traditional freezer top refrigerator so it does not hold much. So if you come over this time of year, most of the food in my house is fresh. Meaning purchased within the last one or two months. I don't have a a lot of room for storage anyways.
About a month ago, I came across a blog with a pantry to kill for... I took the plan and adapted it to my pantry. I have been working on it ever since. It is cathartic for me, and hubby is helping me as well... There is something peaceful about looking in on my pantry and seeing clear containers with all of the snacks and baking supplies with nice labels, all visible and appealing to the eye. It makes cooking and baking so much more enjoyable.
Fridge and freezer: cleared out, cleaned and defrosted!
Pantry: Sorted, wiped-down, and reorganized!
Week-long meal plan to use up old stock: in progress!
This is inspiring... I see a project coming on when I get home from work.
About the baking soda, I would have kept it around. I always keep an open box of baking soda in a cupboard or on a shelf next to the stove just in case a grease fire breaks out. Easy to reach for as a fire stopper, regardless of the expiration date.
Great before & afters!
I like how well stocked you are! Mmmm, fancy cherries....
Before shot still up on blog. Haven't taken the After shot since I haven't fully cleaned *hangs head in shame*
When you clean your pantry, don't you just dream up all the meals you could make?!
QueenOfTheFall.blogspot.com
I just did a pantry purge, so I only have "after" photos of those cabinets - but the fridge is in need of a deep clean. I was able to toss a few expired things that my husband had insisted on keeping but we never used - and now just need to get out the scrub brush and clear a summer's worth of garden detritus from the crisper. I'm excited!
Last night I got giddy, (yes, as giddy as a school girl) when I realized that after all of my purging, cleaning and organizing I have 2 empty cupboard shelves. I'm leaving them empty just in case I need them for the week 2 or 3 assigments.
What I found dismaying was the pantry stuff I knew immediately was a mistake yet didn't have the nerve to throw away when the realization first hit. Brown rice. Why do I own brown rice? I don't like rice, so owning the kind that takes ridiculously long to cook after work Makes. No. Sense.
Goodbye, brown rice!
Fortunately, I use up baking supplies too fast for them to go bad.
Yes, your freezing tip is a good one, @cherrybomb.
Our pantry is all clean now. Yay.
i cleaned out my pantry last night! Granted, this should not have been difficult as we moved into our apartment LAST MONTH. but still, when moving in i had more of the "just get everything off the floor and onto a shelf" mindset than an organizing one. Over the course of the month I realized what I needed to change and what had worked well.
I turned down my sweet husbands suggestion that we go to home depot and get another bakers rack (it was 10pm at night and I didn't want to start another project on top of a current project...)
Everything fits and looks great!
I haven't done the fridge yet (not much to do other than wipe the shelves) and I did my monthly menu planning to include using up the frozen meals in my freezer.
The best recommendation I ever heard was to have a shelf reserved purely for things that will be going in and out again in the next week. So when it comes time to cook dinner everything is right there, no searching. It also keeps you from constantly resorting for things that are about to be used anyway.
Of course, what comes with that system is that you have to set aside a time every week to clear out the things you ended up not using and put them into your more regular rotation. But it's a pretty quick task so once you get into the habit it's great.
Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I just finished both the fridge and the pantry, and it feels great to be done. My pantry was driving me nuts for weeks, but with two little kids I did not make the time to clean it out until now.
Does anyone have suggestions for bread storage? I have a small kitchen, and right now bread is in a basket on top of my microwave. I hate how cluttered it looks, but don't have any more pantry space.
HA...shelf of doom!
I have gotten into the routine of giving everything in the fridge a once over once a week. I check any leftovers (these are always dated when I pack them up) and stuff that needs to be used, and make sure it is still edible and that we will eat it if we keep it--and toss if not. Then I make a list of what needs to be used and schedule using it during the next few days.
While this sound a bit clunky and time consuming, since I've started doing it, we have cut our food waste by around 75%. It only takes a few minutes and I do it before I plan food for the week and do my big shopping. It has also helped me to make better shopping choices and I am not bring ing as much food in since I have a better idea of what we can actually eat in a week.
@kariwk - Thats awesome! I kind of do the same thing on Tuesday nights, although I am going to try to expand it a little. Wednesday is trash day, so I am going to make sure to try to use some of your suggestions above and not just purge but also make a list of what I need to use... thanks!